A little-known content delivery systems development company has filed a …

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A little-known multimedia technology company called Implicit Networks has launched a patent lawsuit that targets several of the biggest players in the technology industry. The complaint (PDF), which was filed in a Seattle court earlier this month, accuses AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, Raza, RealNetworks, and Sun of infringing patent #6629163, which describes "a method and system for demultiplexing a first sequence of packet components to identify specific components wherein subsequent components are processed without re-identifying components."

Although the precise mechanism articulated in the patent isn't entirely clear, it appears to describe a system for processing data in which various pieces are passed to specific handlers based on their type. According to Implicit, this technology is used in Intel's Viiv platform, the Java Media Framework, ATI Radeon hardware, software from NVIDIA called Stant, and other products. Implicit's filing calls for the accused companies to pay damages and attorneys' fees. The company is represented by the Law Offices of James S. Rogers, a small Seattle law firm that specializes in personal injury and automotive product liability suits.

The patent in question was filed in 1999 and granted in 2003. It isn't clear why Implicit waited this long before filing suit, but the logical explanation is that the company has been attempting to convince the accused companies to enter into licensing agreements. The legal filing provides very few additional details and our efforts to find out more about the company were mostly unsuccessful.

Implicit Networks appears to have no web site, but some Googling turned up information which indicates that the company primarily develops Internet content delivery systems. The complex and obfuscated language used in the patent itself makes it difficult to evaluate the veracity of Implicit's claims, but it seems unlikely that the small company has the financial resources to do legal battle with such a broad assortment of high-profile industry leaders—unless it has some significant financial backing that no one's aware of.